HIS STRENGTH IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU - by Karena Lout

!! CHANGE OF TIME !! For this Engage encounter, instead of meeting Saturday afternoon we’re going to incorporate it into our evening worship service. Please join us Saturday at 6 PM to experience the Lord‘s presence together in a deep way!

“My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. So I’m not defeated by my weakness, but delighted! For when I feel my weakness and endure mistreatment- when I’m surrounded with troubles on every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ- I am made yet stronger. For my weakness becomes a portal to God’s power.” 2 Corin. 12:9-10 (Passion) There was a time in my life that I used to shame the parts of myself that felt weak. But as God began to heal my heart, this verse became alive for me. “Weaknesses” are simply areas that we need more truth and healing. When we stop hiding these parts of ourselves, Jesus meets us in the middle of it all and his strength is made perfect in us.   Before Saul had a life changing, supernatural encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus,  his identity was wrapped up in legalism, his intellect and religious beliefs. He was born into a family of pharisees. We see his journey of surrender throughout so much of the New Testament. In 1 Corin. 2:4 Paul says, “My message was not with persuasive arguments based on secular wisdom, since my aim was not to point people to me but to the powerful working of the Spirit in them.”   Power in the spirit comes to maturity by not being “able” in the natural. There is no boasting or taking credit. It is Christ’s work on the cross that we get to boast in.   In high school, I was labeled “the shyest senior” out of a class of 350 students. Looking back, that perception of me was probably due to pain and abuse I was experiencing that caused me to be withdrawn. Public speaking was the last thing I would ever imagine myself doing. So several years ago when I found myself speaking in front of whole high schools, I was reminded of that label as a teenager. That “thorn” caused me to lean on Jesus’ strength in a way I never would have otherwise. I became aware of his power to do exceedingly more than I could ever do in my own strength.   Jesus wants to take your valley of pain and struggle and make it your mountain of greatest victory. In Isaiah 51 it says, “he makes the wilderness like Eden and the desert like the garden of the Lord.” The areas in your life that you’ve been ashamed of are opportunities for Jesus’ strength and power to show up for you. If you’re tired of being strong and holding it all together, I encourage you to surrender to him and find true rest for your soul today.   Love, Karena